Shifting from the Hidden Shadow to the Bright Sunshine under the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The sudden and unprecedented outbreak of the global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has brought along a series of abrupt and sweeping disruptions to almost all learning systems around the world. The pandemic has simultaneously revealed many weaknesses andproblems associated with the existing educational model, which serves as a timely and critical reminder that educators should start thinking and doing education in a very different manner. Nonetheless, this does not simply mean restoring long-standing norms, or reorganizing and perpetuating existing practices as “back to normal,” but discarding and transforming many obsolete assumptions and conventional operations as a “new normal.” As one of the high-performing learning systems around the world throughoutthe decades, Hong Kong has successfully transitioned from disruptive schooling to a “new normal” throughout the pandemic. By collecting concrete examples emerging and evolving across different layers of Hong Kong’s learning system, this conceptual articleaims to contribute to the field of comparative and international education by shedding light on ten key principles in terms of shaping a more responsive, resilient, and sustainable curriculum system for all students to thrive in the uncertain and unpredictable environment ahead of them.